tales from the zombie apocalypse
by SHANKERinsane
Summary: hey everyone thanks for reading this. also, no actual ties to Robert Kirkman the walking dead. the current world ended and now zombie roam everywhere. we are the Orleans woods community in Ottawa Canada. I am writing down what life was like during this apocalypse. If you are reading this well enjoy a teenager's view on hell.
1. Chapter 1 Hello? Anyone out there?

hello everyone thanks for reading this. this is the first chapter for a zombie apocalypse story I am writing. if you have any feedback feel free to put it in the comments. if enough of you like it I can post the second chapter. - Chapter 1 Hello? Anyone out there?  
"Hello? Hello? This is longshot broadcasting on O.R.C channels. Hey jackasses how the hell did you leave me behind? Well if you want to pick me up I am at the secondary rally point. I will be signing off but nearby. Longshot out" I tell the static from the CB radio. Looking around the small room my bag sitting on the bed a few small wrenches next to it. I check the car battery that is powering my radio. It doesn't seem to be overheating but I don't know how much charge it holds. I pull myself to my feet and start packing my tools. leaving the wrench for disconnecting my radio from the battery. Once finished I root through for a can of food and a water bottle. I pull out a can of beans and my multi-tool and open the can. I Find my mess kit in the hood of my bag. As I start eating I hear my radio speak. "Longshot this is Legolas. We are sorry but the ground got too hot. Part of the fence at the airport broke and the area's flooded with walkers. We can't reach you on the roads. we will find a way so sit tight and reinforce the front door. Legolas out." I hear as the radio falls silent again. I pick up the microphone and respond. "I understand. Be careful and plan my escape route. I found some food and water here so I have a few days. Longshot out." I tell Legolas. "God damn Aiden why are you always the man left behind?" I ask nobody in particular. I walk downstairs and check the front door. I peek out a peephole making sure I don't have an unexpected guest. I continue to the living room pulling the curtains shut as I see walkers are popping up on the street. I then look at the bookshelf looking at what treasures it might hold. "Ok, what do we have here? Count of Monte Cristo already read it. Half the Percy Jackson series weird. Oh, the full Eragon series nice." I whisper as I finger through the shelf. I pull out the count of Monte Cristo and the Eragon series and bring them upstairs. I head back downstairs to the basement which sits quiet and dark. I check the washer and dryer for any clothing. As I pull the washer open the rank smell of mold caused by moisture assails my nose. I shut the cover and move on to the dryer. it's empty. I move on to the storage room I can hardly see the shelves lining the wall. It isn't much better until I kick something with my foot it makes a metallic sound and I hear something rattle. I pick up a small briefcase-like box and inspect it. It has a lock on the front and is about one and a half feet in diameter. I decide to stop my search for now and I return upstairs. I set the box down and find the lock picks in my bag and set to work. It doesn't take long to pop the lock and I lift the cover revealing my present. I stare in disbelief at my prize a Browning 9mm pistol. Next to it sits a box of ammo. I open the ammo box to see it is half full. "I found my first claimable item," I say with a very excited voice. I pick it up ejecting the magazine to see it is also full which is odd. "Thisshig" I jump as the radio comes to life. "Longshot its manticore are you okay? We are finishing a plan so pack your stuff and grab any other supplies you deem necessary. Manticore out." I hear smiling at the staticky but familiar voice. Picking up my mic. "Hey, it's Longshot. I am ok. finish you plan the street is getting busy. Longshot out" I reply and I pack the books and metal box in or on the side of my bag. I also jog to the kitchen grabbing some cans, a bottle of bourbon from the counter and pack them. As I wait for the others they finally respond. "Longshot it's Legolas. We did a small drone flyby and we found a clear route. But listen. Exit the house through the back door and head east then south down sable ridge dr. On your left, you will encounter an entrance to a walking path. Here's where you must be careful to follow the path and turn left than right. Follow it until you can turn right again. After you will come to a two way keep left and follow that path manticore and boulderer will meet up and we will turn back. Understand you have three minutes until too many walkers block the street. Legolas out." Legolas says. I respond immediately. "Ok, I understand east, south, turn left onto the walking path, left, right, right, left, stay left. I will encounter you. Longshot signing out and radio disconnected." I grab my wrench and start disconnecting the radio before packing it in the front pouch of my bag. I take the pistol double checking if it's loaded and strapped the holster to my belt. Finally, I strap my quiver to the empty right side of my bag. Unscrewing the cover I make my way to the back door and pull it open.  
The cool spring air blows past. The shuffling sounds of the dead are as loud as the moaning. But above all that I hear something out of place. The buzzing of a drone propeller and a familiar sounding theme. Ride of the Valkyries playing as I see a drone buzz past the house as I come up the side. Leading away from my route I start running. As I reach the end of the street I count five walkers. They are spaced apart enough so I sprint past dodging the last. Turning down the gravel path one solitary walker guards the path. I draw an arrow from my quiver aiming and firing. The arrow whistles through the air and finds its target striking its skull with a thunk. It slumps to the ground and as I passed I grab my arrow. When I reach the first turn I see the left route is clear. "Wow, Logan must have taken his time checking these paths," I think to myself as I approach the right turn. The cold wind blows past but it also brings the sounds of groaning. "Crap the path isn't as clear as I would hope," I grunt as a slight cramp from eating creeps up my side. I slide my bow into the quiver drawing two knives from my bag straps. I grip the handle as a walker stumbles out of the woods. I block its grab shoving his arms away as I slide my push knife under his chin. The walker slumps to the ground and I keep moving. The path now turns to dirt and mud and I slow my speed to make sure I don't trip. The path is forested on the sides. I count seven walkers five of them block my route the others I can slip past. I duck under the firsts' arm and punch the seconds through his eye socket. Spinning past I stab the third in the side of its head. The fourth turn to face me. instead of killing it I slam my foot into her knee nearly taking off her leg. Now crippled she poses less of a threat so I carry on. The fifth and sixth go down easily but the last catches me off guard. I slip in the mud kicking its leg dropping it onto of me. His weight knocks the wind out of my chest and I drop the knife in my right hand. He also is pinning my left arm so I can't use my other knife. I struggle to keep his head away but I hear a scraping sound behind me. I glance behind me. "Oh you are a special type of bitch aren't you." I tell the female walker whose' knee I kicked out as she drags herself closer. I release my grip on the walker above me and try to find my knife. Failing to I pull up his head away this time I grab an arrow from my quiver. I jam the arrow into its head and as it goes limp I flip him off me. I get onto all fours and drive my push knife into the female walker's head. "Ok now, all I have to do keep going until I can turn right then left and I should be in the clear." I think to myself as I pull myself back to my feet and find my second knife.  
As I make the right turn I hear a familiar buzzing as our drone flies past. Ahead I see the drone dip down and I see Legolas and manticore ahead. As I approach I notice a walker exit the forest nearby manticore is ready for it plunging a spear into it. "Hey, guys. Good plan with the drone. Also, let's get going they are walkers following the drone and they don't take paths." I tell them as Legolas slides the drone into a frame and hangs it onto the side of his bag. We start running back to where they came and in a few minutes, we reach our ride. A 2004 Pontiac Sunfire on the windows steel wire mesh covered them to help protect us. I see Blake sitting behind the wheel as we approach I hear the trunk pop open. I slide my backpack into the trunk as it barely fits and Legolas throws his into the back seat. I get in the back with Legolas as manticore gets shotgun.

Members of Aiden's team. Legolas looks like a lord or the ring elf extra but his real name is Logan sova. Blake Theodore (codename boulderer)is African American and an amazing at parkour. finally manticore a splitting image of myself and my twin brother Taylor hunt.  
As we begin driving back home we take different back roads passing an old movie theatre. The roads are crowded with cars but we are able to squeeze through an area about one lane in size. As we reach the edge of Orleans we turn off the 174 taking jean d'Arc back home. We reach the south-west corner of the wall and turn down towards the school. As we approach the small gate it swings open allowing us to enter. We pass through the semi-circle path stopping at the school's entrance. Logan, Taylor and I get out and pop the trunk as Logan jogs inside grabbing a cart. As he returned we grab the boxes of canned foods placing them on the cart. I turn as I hear another car pull up behind us. Three other raiders jump out and wave to us. "Hey, are you guys raid group 14? You were near the old airport. How did the raiding go?" one asks as he walks up to us. "Yep we just got back and we have some bad news. So once we drop off these supplies we need to find Reiner." I tell the raider as we pull the last box out of the trunk and start wheeling it inside. Taylor pushes it while Blake parks the car in the lot. I enter the office and see only two people working. "Good afternoon Aiden. How was your day?" the older secretary asked as she pulls a binder from her desk and places it in front of me. I flip through the pages until I found our page from when we left. I fill the rest of the form out and remove it from the binder. "So I drop this off to Reiner in his office?" I ask as I move for the door. "Yep once you mark down everything you scavenged and listed any claimed items." the secretary replies as she closes and puts the binder back on top of her desk. I exit the office and walk down the empty hallway before turning into the den. Once it was an area for seniors to sit and talk before classes or during spares. Now a few older raiders sit and are planning a raid. Maps scattered around the table and they argue on which path to take. I smile as I pass before opening the door to the olds foods room.  
Two tables are piled with cans and another has bottles of water. Taylor and the others are organizing marking the cans with the date we found them. After we place to sort them by brand. finally, we mark what flavors and mark them in another ledger. The process if different for water though. Instead, we list the amount of water it holds and how many of that size we have. water is marked is because when bottles or jugs are empty we refill them with water we clean ourselves. "Oh, how do I claim an item?" I ask the head sorter. Suddenly the room becomes very quiet as the other sorters, my team and the other team look at me. "Do you have said item with you by chance?" She asks as I open my bag and pull out the metal box. I pop it open pulling the box of ammo out. I hear a member of the other group gasp. Then as I reach and remove the browning from my waist and the holster. I hear both Blake and Logan mutter under their breath. "Lucky bastard!" "Well, then that is an impressive find. Where did you find it?" She asks as she takes it from me. "Browning 9mm, Thirteen round clip, fires 9mm by 19mm rounds. My husband used one when he was in the forces. He was a range officer and he also teaches firearm safety. If you even want to learn how to use that he can help." She adds as she hands it back. "Oh for weapon claims talk to Reinhardt in his office." One of the other raiders tells me. I thanks them as I continue to write dates on the cans. As we finish we the cans from similar brands together into cardboard boxes. As we load them back onto the cart from earlier we push it back to the front door where an ATV razor is waiting. We throw the boxes into the back and send it back to the metro. "Ok guys let's go talk to Reinhardt now. He needs to know the results of our first raid." I tell the others as we follow the ATV back. The path is quiet as a patrol walks past. We nod as we walk past.

Information about the Orleans woods community. In the Orleans woods community, we are split into two different groups. We are part of the raiders who work outside of the walls. We run paper messages, supply runs and are the mobile fighters. The other group is the guardians. They defend us from within the wall and they are trained for fighting human targets. They also use firearms more than us. We use hit and run tactics and IEDs usually taking a single target or group out than moving. When raiders are off duty we either train, relax, work where needed or work as guardians.  
As we reach the shopping plaza We hear shouting."MARAUDERS HIT THE FLOOR!" I panic as I turn and tackle my brother. A truck with a machine gun attached near the sunroof drives. drives pass and stop opening fire into the shopping center. We start moving to cover behind cars, walls or barricades. We begin to return fire slowly. I grab the pistol from my waist and pull the trigger. Click click click. "Oh shit the safety." I click the safety off and pull the trigger. I nearly drop it as it fires. The rear passenger window shatters as I look at the handgun in my hands. That moment was short lived as I hear someone screaming in pain. I look and see a guardian on the ground clutching his leg as blood pours from it. I see two other guardians not moving on the ground. I holster my pistol and instead grab my bow taking aim and firing through the shattered window. That was the target but instead, it hits a wire of the chain fence and ricochets off the side. I hear bells dingle behind me as a hail of gunfire opens up. "Can I get an hour of goddamn peace and quiets!" A voice with a notable German accent shouts in anger. I turn to see Marko Reinhardt exiting his office, the old TD bank. In his hands is an MP5K firing in short bursts. He continues walking, passing the four of us with no fear. When his SMG ran empty he casually reloads as he continues walking. We hear the tires from the truck hiss as they deflate. The Marauders cover inside unable to return fire but they push the opposing side door open and slip out. They flee into the housing project across the road and after a few seconds disappear. "Raiders and guardians I want twenty of you to go after them. I need another ten to secure that vehicle. NOW!" Marko shouts.  
Taylor and I joined the eighteen other members hunting the two bandits who fled. Logan and Blake were securing the truck. We ditch our bags and sprint across the parking lot and help push the gate open as we exit. we shuffle around until we are in groups of two or three and proceed into the project. Half of us runs into the street entrance and the other half through the walking path. I am part of the group heading up the street the road is empty of anything living. Our heads are on swivels looking for movement or open doors. "Ok, they are most likely in a flight situations meaning they are running. Look for anything out of place or agitated walkers" One of the other raiders tells us. "Guys we have a blood trail someone got hit!" A guardian said as he points to a small puddle of red liquids. We hit a turn in the road and a group of three peels off following that path off. We continue on until just Taylor and myself and a member of the guardians are left. "Guys we have some walkers to our left they seem excited about something. Oh, gods, we found one of them. GUYS, WE HAVE A TRAIL!" I shout as I see a group of walkers shuffling towards as two or three others eating a bandit on the ground. I release the arrow from my bow dropping the closest walker as the guardian clicks the safety off on his rifle. I hear a muffle pfft pfft pfft sound as he opens fire the suppressor dampening the normally loud report. He easily drops the majority of the walkers as they are all distracted. We switch to melee weapons Taylor uses a hatchet the guardian a spear and I use my push knives. I look at the dead bandit and notice a gouge across his calf. "Aiden you must have shot him when you blew out his window," Taylor tells me as we continue past the body after stabbing his brain. We passed the houses and we run into a small hill which levels out to a river.  
As Taylor and the guardian look around it crouch and look at the ground until I find what I need. A large set of boot prints and a medium size set nearby. "I have a trail they are following the creek possible looking for a place to cross. They ditched the other one since he will slow them and to distract any walkers. That was a mistake as that lead us to them." I tell the others as I start following it. The Guardian speaks to his walkie-talkie. "Guys one of the raiders found a trail following bilberry creek. Take Orleans Boulevard and any street on the left side until you reach the bridge. Once there cut onto the side of the 174 and head east back towards us. Over" We pick up our pace as we hear the other groups respond and make plans. We reach the first possible area to cross the creek and We see muddy footprints on a fallen tree. We also cross and continue following the tracks. After about five minutes of uneventful jogging, we reach the edge of the 174. The ground becomes grass again and I lose the trail. We see the others slowly jog towards us. Once they reach us we all stop and catch our breaths. "Guys we lost the trail they could have jumped the fence or kept traveling east. Let's head back and tell Reinhardt. " Taylor says as We head back to the road. "Hey this is Ashton can we get a ride back two pickups will work thanks." The guardian who was with us says into his walkie-talkie as he switches to the main community signal. He gets a response and with a few minutes two pickups are driving up to meet us. We pile in the back while some get in the truck. When we return home we park and head back to the plaza. The plaza has been cleared the deceased removed. The other ones who were injured have been moved to the medical center. The medical center is the old dollar store. All the shelves have been cleared and a makeshift medical area has been set up. three curtains are pulled shut but you can see movement behind it. We reach the old TD bank and we stop outside. "So who should go inside? I feel like I should along with Taylor since we have to talk anyways after." I tell them "you two as well." I say pointing to a raider who split from our group and a guardian who took the walking path. We all agree as for the others who claimed the vehicle appear around the corner. "Hey, Aiden you guys better go talk. We will go and gather any arrows and shell casing in the area. See how many bullets we lost and how many they fired at us." Ashton says as they disperse around the plaza.

I pull the door open holding it as the four of us walk into the bank. The inside has remained the same although more chairs have been added inside. Taylor goes and signs us in at the front desk while I drop off the paper from the school with our raid info. The guardian with us knocks on the door to Marko's office and we hear him tell us to enter. The inside of his office is painted red. bookshelves decorate the walls filled with thick binders. He replaced the old desk with a large U shaped desk. On the wall within arms reach to his right are three different firearms. His MP5K, a G36 assault rifle, and an FP6 shotgun. All Heckler & Koch brand firearms from Germany. Marko Reinhardt was an officer from Germany and was a member of German special forces. He was found on one of our first raids once we pulled together as a group. That mission was a train wreck until we found Marko. He was with six other German spec ops but when we rescued him only four soldiers were left. We lost another in a gunfight leaving three. They work as combat trainers and work as our most dangerous raid team. "So did you find those bandits?" Marko asks as We sit. The tall back leather armchairs are uncomfortable so we shift around. "No, we found one of them dead being eaten. We think I grazed him when I blew out their window. We found the tracks in the forest across from the other high school. They lead to the edge of the 174 then we lost them." I respond as I recollect everything that happened. "That's not good. I believe that one of them might have been ex-military. The gun on top of the truck was a medium machine gun C6 model. Hey stopped firing back since they were out of ammo so it's next to useless though. We also have to get it off the roof of the truck." Marko tells us. "We also lost some people in that attack. One raider, one guardian, and a civilian. Four other people were wounded but they should recover if lucky." He adds.  
"Um major question why would they even risk attacking us or bother attacking us? Taylor asks the larger question as Marko shifts in his seat. "Well to answer that. Bandits are very popular outside of cities and often visit from the states. The problem lies when they gather into large groups or gather too much firepower. Although that attack highlighted something important about our defenses. We are prepared for walkers not humans with guns." He replies with an annoyed look on his face. I glance around looking at the collection of guns on his wall. "Have we ever patrolled the countryside for bandit camps?" I ask as I turn my focus back to Marko. "Yes, Apollo usually handles those types of missions. They haven't found any camps or groups though. Which means they were working by himself." Marko tells us as he walks to a shelf and pulls a binder off and sits back down with. "Sir those guys weren't by themselves they were working with others we found a map with our area circled. We don't know about the other communities bu….." Taylor attempts to say before he is interrupted as the door slams open. In the door stands a teen about our age. She is panting and red in the face I recognize her as a member of the radio team. They work out of the school library monitoring CB radios and walkie-talkies for raiders on missions. "Marko sir. Its Apollo they are under attack as we speak. They are holding them off but they need help!" she says in a panic.

We turn to look at Marko than to the girl then back to Marko. "Does this mean to get the guns? I am pretty sure this counts as a get the guns situation." I say my voice squeaking from excitement. "Yes, Aiden it's a get the guns moment. Put out a radio call to the guardians all raiders get their gear and meet at the school parking lot." Marko says standing up. He lifts G36 off the wall and opens a drawer grabbing some magazines. "I want you and the other riders in the parking lot to head to the school. Get some ieds and anti-vehicle traps and leave now. Get Logan to set the perimeter. Avoid fighting and set traps. Then engage from the back striking from inside houses. Go!" Marko shouts years of experience almost noticeable in his voice. Taylor and I jump out sprinting into the parking lot shouting. "All raiders follow us now! All raiders follow us now!" They catch onto the situation and follow us sprinting to the school. Once we reach the door we split up I ran through the den gathering other raiders. We reach one of the supply rooms where we keep our body armor. I grab a kevlar vest before moving to the next supply room. Inside are six guards all armed. "Apollo under attack. It's a get the guns moment." I gasp as the adrenaline dips. One of the guards reacts taking a key from his vest and unlocks the cage surrounding the guns. I grab a Remington bolt action rifle and about 5 boxes of .223 so about 100 rounds. Other people enter the room as I leave. I pass Taylor who is carrying two boxes of road spikes. "These are in the olds drama room upstairs. Go to the library and grab some walkie-talkies and radios from the library and meet in the parking lot." He tells me as I turn and sprint the opposite way to the stairwell heading upstairs.  
I reach the library and it is a flurry of activity as reports flow in from Apollo. I am not the only one there for the radios so I grab two CB's and head for the parking lot. We are gathered around a few different cars loading gear into them as we ourselves pile in. I am shotgun with my brother driving. The gate is barely open enough to let us through as we barrel past turning up onto Orleans Blvd. About four more cars follow as we speed towards Apollo.  
We pass a set of lights when another group of cars turns next to us. I hear the CB radio on the dash sputter to life as I plug it in and a voice comes through. "He guys in the suburban next to us. We are arrowhead raiders. We will be your partners today so let's start planning what we will do." An arrowhead raider tells us as I see the passenger in the other car waving to us. "Understand. Our plan is to set up an anti-retreat area so they can't flee. After we are to take up strategic positions inside houses shooting to kill. Once the rest of the raiders from our base get there we switch to an offensive fighting style. Pinning them against Apollo's fence. Once we get to the pinning part remember we alternate fire. North and east than south and west." Taylor replies from the backseat. "You guys should have a map with the recommended ambush locations." He adds. They respond and the rest of the drive is quiet for us as the main tactical planners do their work. We approach the target area stopping a good distance away and disembark. We unload the traps and get to work splitting into many groups. we cover the main roads setting explosives on smaller streets.  
Once we finish we begin moving closer to the actual fighting. Taylor, Logan, and Blake are with me as we slowly open the gate to a random backyard. One solitary walker shambles around the backyard tripping over a swing set. we barely hold back our laughter as we watch the scene unfold. "Taylor deal with him. Logan gets the map out I want to know the best house for sniper coverage. Blake you and Taylor can attack from the base floor building an area to cover behind first." I tell them as Taylor spears the fallen walker. I jump as a burst of gunfire echoes throughout the area. "Fucking hell they are going to bring every unrestricted walker in Orleans on top of us if they keep going," Logan swears as the echoes die off. "Okay so looking at the map and from the knowledge of where roughly are we need to jump two fences east and then one south." He continues as he packs the map and we get ready to move again. We jump the first fence leading to an empty yard but we are stopped by the hedge in the next. "Blake uses your machete to clear a small path for us but be quick we don't know how much time we have before they dip," I say as more gunfire echoes but I notice something about the gunfire. "Guys they have a machine gun similar the marauders who attacked us," I warn them as Blake clears us a small path through the hedge and we move towards the fence behind the house. We notice this fence is too high for one person himself. "Buddy jump," Taylor says as he and Blake brace against the fence. Taylor and I jump and pull ourselves up before helping the other two. Two walkers are bashing them self into the gate while we land. I grab my pistol from my waist moving towards them. I only open fire when the machine guns are firing. As I drop the two of them

We move to the patio door of the house. It is already unlocked as I drag it open. Thankfully the front where the window is has a brick outer layer making it good for cover. "Okay move the kitchen table, legs facing away from the window and get comfortable. Blake upstairs with me" I tell them as they clear and move the table. Blake and I run upstairs to a room overlooking the street out front. We decide on using the master bedroom and I drag the nightstand to the window. I open the sports bag on my back and take out the boxes of ammo. I also take the scope and attach it. Then I slowly open the blinds preparing to see what lays out front. What I saw I wasn't prepared for at all. I see a dozen lifeless corpses on both sides of the fence. Others who were injured but can't get to safety. Blood is splattered everywhere. I look past the chaos and I look at the bandits scattered on the ground. We have an advantage on them as they don't have cover from us. But what they do have are not one but three more machine guns two are mounted while one is smaller and is moveable. They alternate fire, shooting when necessary pinning Apollo's guardians. I also grab a walkie-talkie from my bag turning it on. "Ok guys here the plan I am going to fire the first shot taking out the smaller machine gun it's dangerous since it moves. After that, you focus on anyone returning fire and the two mounted machine guns. I will do the same. On my mark, get ready" I tell the others downstairs as I lift the window open and get into position. "Okay Remington 700 VTR don't fail me now"I pray in my head as I curl my fingers around the trigger. I take aim at the bandit behind the light machine gun aiming at his upper center mass. I pull the trigger as I feel the recoil and hear the report of the rifle.


	2. Chapter 2 A difficult learning curve

Hello, everyone, this second chapter is pretty short as I am using it to help introduce the plot. also, thank you to Celia Azul for being the first to follow this and give me a reason to continue posting. I hope you enjoy this slightly shorter chapter

Chapter 2 A difficult learning curve

The Light machine gun becomes quiet as the shooter slumps over it. That's when the realizations hit me. " _Oh god, I just killed someone. I killed walkers but never another live human._ " My brain screams to the rest of my body. I don't hesitate though as I move to the next machine gunner his back is still turned so it's a kill. The others catch on though as some turn shooting at us. I duck behind the night table as bullets shatter the window I am using. I grab the ammo on the table and place them into my bag. I then proceed to crawl through the room back to the exit. "Guys, we are taking a lot of fire did they turn the machine gun towards us?" I shout to the first floor. I hear more bullets drum against the house as I move downstairs sliding next to the others. "Yep the last machine gun is aimed at us and they are trying to get the other mounted clear to use," Taylor replies as he reloads his rifle. "I only have one question where did they find those guns and how much more ammunition do they have. If they keep firing we will have to use the back fence for cover!" he adds as he pokes his head over the cover. "I will send a message to the Woods we need them to hurry," I tell the others as I fumble my walkie-talkie from my belt before going to the washroom. As I close the door I turn the walkie-talkie to our channel and push the trigger. "This is longshot reporting from just outside Apollo's south wall. We are taking heavy fire. Hostiles have two medium machine guns and one light machine gun. I also counted ten shooters on foot. Finally, we are hearing gunfire which might indicate they are also attacking another side of the wall. Over." I say as calmly as possible. It doesn't take long for the other to respond. "Longshot this is Marko. Don't worry you should be hearing from us soon. You guys should fallback and attack them from their left flank we will take care of the right flank. Over." Marko responds as the radio silences. I remember something important as I start moving to the others. When we left they said they were preparing the party bus. " _Oh dear lord they are in for a surprise."_ I laugh to myself as I get to the bottom of the stairs.

"Guys get ready to make a break for the back exit. We are going to change plans and attack from their left flank. The others will be joining us soon." I inform them as I make a break for the back exit. As we leave the house we jump the fences until we reach the end of the street. The rest of the raiders who remained outside the wall with us were waiting for us. "It's great that you decided to join our party but why are we waiting here?" One of the raiders asks as the gunfire continues. "Because remember the raiders heavy support vehicle. Also known as the party bus. Well, those bandits are about to get one hell of a surprise when it rumbles around the bend." Logan says as we hear what sounds like a fog horn. Rumbling around the corner is a school bus painted black. The windshield, windows, and sides have been covered in metal sheeting to improve its defenses. The engine block on the front has two large pieces of metal forming a v-shape towards the bus. They notice the bus and two of the cars start attempting to escape but as they got closer to us the drive over the road spikes. The first car fishtails before being nailed by the other car flipping the first. They were the lucky cars. We hear a loud crashing sound as the remaining cars are plowed by the party bus. Once it finishes ramming the different vehicles raiders pile out of the bus. We hear a fury of gunfire before it becomes calm. We start to secure the wreckage. The other bandits were all dead with necks snapped or skulls crushed from the impact. We find the last one with a hole in his temple but nothing around looked like it would have killed him. "Guys we have movement in the first truck!" Blake shouts to us as we move to check the sound. When we approach the overturned vehicle. we get near we hear one of the doors creak open and we slowly see the head of one of the bandits. "I surrender. I completely surrender!" he shouts, arms in the air and a mix of panic and stress in his voice. We strip him of any noticeable gear and weapons and quickly tie his hands behind his back. His sweater was baggy in the arms making it annoying to tie him up.

"You. guard this guy while we go check in with the others." I tell one of the raiders as we start jogging towards the party bus. It takes a minute of jogging to reach the end of the street but we see that everything has calmed. We still hear shouting from other raiders some calling for medics other being ordered to strip gear and secure the area. I look for Marko among the mess of raiders. He somewhat stands out as he wears the uniform of the German Kommando Spezialkräfte (German special forces). He notices us as we approach him. "The last two vehicles have been searched and we have one captive," I inform him as raiders hurry around the area.

"Great well let's go talk with him. I wish to learn a few things about who these people are. Lead me to him and let's have a talk." Markos tells us as we walk to the wreck but as we approach I could tell something was wrong. Nobody was there, our raider or the captive. "I am going to go on the record and say we made a mistake a very big mistake. I could go farther and say we fucked up majorly." I gasp as we search the area all that remained was a few drops of blood.

We searched for an hour but it was clear he had disappeared. We found the zip ties that we used on the ground a kilometer away cut. After that, we finished clean up and returned home. Due to the attacks, we decided to postpone all activities outside the wall for a week. So we get to experience normal life in a zombie apocalypse and it's quite drab. The reason it is boring is that we are stuck inside a 4.4 km rectangular wall.

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"Finally we found them. The bastards that attacked our settlement. We tracked them across Ontario finally locating their bases in Ottawa. Today we make them pay for what they have done to us." I shout to the twenty-two other survivors that joined me. "They attacked and killed thirty of us, they will pay eye for an eye!" I continued as the others started cheering. We pack our weapons and exit the old Orleans bowling. We have been using that as our base for three days and now we will strike. As we leave I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Michael. "Are we completely sure that these are the people that attacked us? If we are mistaken we could start a war with a group much stronger than we are." He asks as we approach my truck. I drop the light machine gun into the trunk. "Oh please, for them to outgun us they would have had to raided multiple military encampments. These are just well-organized raiders. Although it sucks that we couldn't bring the big guns." I reply as I pull myself into the driver seat. I roll down my window and looked at Michael

"True if we don't succeed here we will probably be exiled back home we are off the reserve here." He adds as he looks at the sun it was on its descent in the sky. "Well, you know your target how difficult could this be anyways. Don't worry we will meet up later and I doubt we will lose even a single man." I tell him as I start the engine and began rolling down the road towards the exit. I mean hope everything goes right. Like what is the worst that could happen? I think to myself as we turn onto the roundabout.

"Guys get in the trucks!" I shout as we hear the rumbling and see the massive decked out war bus turn down the street. I don't notice who gets into the driver's seat but as soon as our doors slam shut we start flying down the street followed by the other truck. As we fly down the road I notice a small group of the raiders standing on the side of a house. I look ahead and notice a glint of a spike running across the road. We collide with the road strip at a slight angle. We begin fishtailing and I feel the right rear wheel leave the ground, As it does we are rammed by the other truck. The force is enough to flip us and everything goes black for a few seconds. As my vision returns I see that we are sitting on our roof I look around me to see my friend next to me is quietly moaning. "Hey, are you okay?" I whisper as he opens his eyes slowly. He eyes flicker towards me but when he tries to turn his head he grimaces in pain. "I think my spine is broken I can't feel below my neck." He silently cries out as tears form in his eyes. "Please, I want you to kill me. Even if we escape or get captures I am a burden to anybody." He continues as I draw my knife from the sheath on my arm. "Stupid baggy sweater! Always in my way. You guys were right I shouldn't have worn it." I joke as I try to calm him. I bring the knife to his temple and hold his head. I hear him quietly almost a whisper reciting the Lord's prayer. Driving the knife forward I pierce his skull and kill him. I pull the knife out and clean it on his shirt. That is when I hear the voices as I see people moving around the car. Jamming my knife into the sheath I go limp hoping to appear dead. I hear rustling around the front and the other half of the back seats. They leave after a few seconds leaving me untouched.

I don't hear talking so I decided to make my escape. Holding myself steady with one hand I release my seat belt and slowly slide until I am on my back feet facing the window. " Wait if they are gone why kick out the window if they could open the door this is quieter." I quietly lecture myself as I ungracefully flopped around. I grab the handle of the door when I hear. "Guys we have movement in the first truck!". I push open the door and it lets out a long creak as I crawl out. I poke my head over the flipped car to see a small group of raiders staring at me and moving around the sides of the car. One of them stands out as he points what looked like a Browning 9mm. Weird those are often given to Canadian forces officers. Where did he get one? I think as I thrust my hands up. "I surrender. I completely surrender!" I shout as they reach me. They force my hands behind my back and begin to use zip ties to cuff me. I walk towards the rest of them at gunpoint as they discuss what to do with me. They finally decide to leave me with one guard as the rest go to report to whoever leads them.

As they leave and get a good distance way I make my move. I reach with my left hand to grab my knife hidden on my arm and cut my cuffs nicking my wrist in the process. My guard is quite small, build wise. I slam hand into the back of his head and scoop him up as he slumps into unconsciousness and I start running. We lost the battle but got a prize for losing. "This isn't the last they will see of us we will return with more manpower," I vow as I disappear from sight.


	3. chapter 3 life behind the wall part one

hello, everyone chapter 3 is here. this chapter and 4 will be more about life behind a wall and how humans adapted to it.

Chapter 3 Life behind the wall Part 1.

A few days have passed since the attack on our homes. Due to a crease in outside activities life has become a bit boring. Although a few major things are happening inside the walls. The official start of the soccer season, the finishing of the south wall, and we have some construction projects within the wall to work on. While everyone might think that a zombie apocalypse might be this epic journey of struggling to survive it is not. You find people and work together. It's not one man who saves the world and finds the cure in some hidden underground military bunker. We might never get a cure, this might just be mankind's final years. But we aren't dead yet our walls still stand and the days march on. The future is still ahead of us.

"Hey Taylor, I'm going to be busy today. I'm helping with those new water towers we have to build." I shout to my brother from the bottom of the stairs as I finish lacing on my steel toes. I don't hear a reply meaning he is still asleep. I pull the door close as the cool spring air blows past. It's been almost two years since the end of the world happened. Well, the collapse really. The start of the outbreak was about a year and a half. We started working together after last winter and here we are now. I walk towards Orleans woods elementary. I pass neighbors going about their day. Most of them help in the farm fields, the rest are either guards, raiders, or work in the stores. I walk up the path leading between the houses and stare at the old park. Before the end, it held a small play structure and a large field that connected to the school's playground. Now the structure still stands but the area around it has been turned to a small farmland. Looking left towards the road we have some small greenhouses and to my right lays the path that leads back to the road. I walk around the field until I reach the front of the school. A small group of about 30 has formed in front of the doors.

As I approach I notice some friends in the crowd. I didn't have to wait long as the head of construction waves us inside. We gather in the old gym where a whiteboard has been set up with a few drawings of what we are building, how we are building it and where they would be built. "Good morning everyone." Saul, the head builder says louder his Hispanic accent only slightly noticeable. "Today we have four water towers to build. We need one more in this field, one for the park next to the apartment complex, one in Troyes park and the final one at mystery park. Since we have 35 people I will join one of the groups." I have a smaller paper copy of instructions. To make sure we don't have any mistakes like the last time. I added pictures of each step and what it should look like. " Saul finishes as he curses in Spanish. We split into the four groups and he joins my group. "Aiden! It's been a while since you last helped with constructions. How has all that raider training been going?" He asks as we begin leaving the gym. "It's been good I went on my first raid a few days ago and then I joined in fighting those attackers," I tell him as we reach the area for the water tower in the field next to the school. On the ground are the materials we will be needing. "Okay, here how it works. The base is about three feet off the ground it is wide enough to easily fit four, fifty plus gallon drums of water." He tells us as we start working.

We begin by digging a one-foot hole in the ground and placing a cinder block in the hole. We then drop one of the posts into the hole and bury it. Then we created an X support connecting post 1 and 2 and another connecting 3 and 4. After those are installed we connect a post on the outside of the square leveled with the top to build the frame. Finally, we start laying the wood planks across the top and drilling them into the wood. The final task is to get the drums filled and placed on top. These are only meant for getting water for crops as the water isn't cleaned enough to drink. As we work other people join or switch in when we take a break. The tower does take a large portion of the day as it was around six at night when we had the drums filled and placed on. As we start to leave and check on the other sites Saul pulls me aside. "Aiden remember when you helped out to build the wall. You were joking around with some other guys on your break. I think you were talking about how to cover the chainlink to make sure that we can get shot through it. Do you remember what you said it sounded like a good idea." He asks and I try to recall what I said. "I remember I said something about a scale-like design. That right! We scrap cars to get parts from them. We don't have any use of the hoods though. I was saying we should use them by draping them over the chainlink like scales. We leave gaps so our pikes can kill walkers who get close." Tell Saul as I remember what my idea was. "If we need more hoods as well we can salvage them from places like auto graveyards," I add to the idea.

'Well I'll be damned that actually can work is we add a metal crossbar for them to hang off of it would prevent bullets from passing through." Saul replies as his eyes widen from my idea. "Well have a great evening I have a meeting to plan for. If a scribe comes by and ask to put your idea on paper do it." He continues as he walks away.

I decided to head back home to start prepping dinner. Taylor should be hungry from soccer practice, Blake has been working in the forge and I think Logan was helping take inventory at the old Metro. I decide to take the shorter path home which follows behind me house ending on the street. I walk down the short hill opening my gate and try the back door. "Damn locked" I mutter as I walk around my house. "I should look into having this gate reattached," I said out loud as I walked past it. We removed it when we redid the path next to our house. As I enter I take my shoes off and place them in the closet. The house is still empty and as I walk to the kitchen I look for something to make. To my annoyance, I find that the shelves and fridge are almost empty meaning we have groceries to do tomorrow. I decide to take out a few cans of soup and open the cans. I'm not alone for long when I hear the door open and the others walk in. My parents moved to the Apollo community to help there while we decided to stay here. Blake and Logan moved in a few days after. "Good evening everyone. I have some soup heating up now. Get change and get ready to eat" I tell them as I see Taylor is covered in mud and Blake covered in sweat."

"You got it, boss," Blake says as he goes upstairs. He uses my old bedroom while I moved into my parents and Logan uses the guest room on floor one. I continue cooking as Logan also sees the food situation and begins making a list.

"So who should do the groceries tomorrow? If you are busy I could." Logan asks as I turn the stove off. Thankfully we had solar panels put in a few years ago. "I'm not to busy either so you are welcome to help," I reply as I grab the bowls out of the cupboard. "Spoons," I tell Logan as he pulls the drawer open. I finish pouring the soup when the others come downstairs. "Sit and eat!" I shout as Taylor starts opening the shelf. He moans as he finds his seat at the table.

'Oh, Aiden I made the soccer team. I will be playing defense. We have our first practice with the other team." Taylor says as grabs some crackers "Why do we have two teams?" Logan asks.

"Oh well since we decided to make a few sports teams to keep morale up. We also need more than three teams so we and arrowhead have two and Apollo has three." He replies as we continue eating. Once we finish Blake took care of the dishes while I went to the basement to look for something. As I look in various boxes I finally find what I need a yellow page book. I take it back to my room and start looking for any business that might have supplies we could use. Flipping through the pages I notice a small add in the bottom corner of the page. Scrap That Car Removal a company that takes damaged cars. I take down the address on a small notepad before continue flipping through. I don't continue for long until I decide to call it a night and fall asleep.

I jump out of bed as I hear an air raid siren go off. I throw some clothes on and bolt down the stairs quickly tying my shoes on. I hear the others slamming around as I open the door to the garage. I pull the garage door open as I grab my bow and quiver as well as an ahlspiess.

Ahlspiess: An ahlspiess is a thrusting pike used in medieval times it has a long thin spike. This makes them useful for poking walkers through the gate.

The twilight gives an eerie feeling as I look at the slightly purple sky. The others aren't far behind as I run for the nearest section of wall just up the street. I see the problem as I arrive. A large number of the undead seems to have appeared near the wall. Other members of the Guardians and Raiders are nearby. "Where did these things come from! Where are the guards on duty!" I hear someone shout from among our numbers "It doesn't matter we need to thin their numbers and spread them down the fence away from the gates. Aiden good you four are here I want you to try and drag some of them down towards the eastern wall." Felix a higher ranking raider shouts as he gives other groups orders. I start banging my ahlspiess against the fence catching the attention of a few walkers. The others catch on and follow as we manage to get a group of around fifteen walkers following. After we drag them a good distance away from the others we notice that they are no walkers down towards the east wall. "Hold and spike them!" I shout as I spear the closest walker. My ahlspiess easily pierced its rotten flesh. The advantage to these weapons is if you miss you can shove the walkers away. The round guard at the bottom of the spike prevents the walker from falling onto the shaft of the weapon. The others also begin to take down their walkers and in a few seconds, all fifteen are truly dead.

Once we finish we head back towards the largest gaggle. As we arrive we start hearing gunfire from the shopping plaza. "You four go and assist there! We have it handled here." Felix shouts as they have taken down almost half of the walkers there. We keep running and we see other raiders fighting along the fence line. When we arrive at the shopping plaza we expected it to be chaotic. Instead, an odd sense of order is seen in the area. Two of the gates nearby have been opened and walkers are piling through. The road at the closet gate has a slight uphill and the ground around it is raised. Standing on the raised area and at the intersect at the top of the hill are various raider, guardians, and civilians. They use an assortment of pikes and others using bows or rifles to keep the hoard in check and forcing them into a choke point. The other gate has a ring formed around it as fighters with spears and ranged weapons take turns holding the walkers in place.

"You four two of you help us the other two join the larger group!" Marko shouts as he level and spears a walker with his ahlspiess. "Taylor, Blake join the others. Aiden with me." Logan orders we move to our positions. We join the group at the intersection this means we have about fifty meters between us and the wall flooding with walkers. I stand in between Marko and a random guardian drawing my recurve bow. At a draw weight of 50 lbs, it can pack quite a punch at close range. I draw two arrows from my quiver firing one while holding another between my middle and ring finger. This is a useful trick that is difficult to accomplish. Some professional archers could hold three or four at a time. I release the first arrow and it finds its mark in the crowd as it falls a walker behind it trips over its body. I notice that a guardian nearby had his ahlspiess driven into a walkers shoulder. "Hold tightly!" I shout as the second arrow pins the walker just below the ear. As it slumps to the ground the pike is pulled free. I keep firing but as my quiver empties itself I see an ATV speed towards us and stops nearby. The small trunk has drums full of arrows. A pickup follows behind with more in the back. I see more vehicles stop at the other group as well. A barrel is placed behind me to share with the archers near me. "Come on men! The hoard is thinning out! Keep fighting and we will be done soon." Marko shouts rallying up as we begin fighter harder. His words are true as the number of walkers has heavily decreased. But then the other shoe drops.

We hear a fallback order from the other gate. " Everyone fallback we are being overrun!" A random voice shouts as the semi-circle breaks. As the other group falls back we hear another shout from the west past the walkers. "Stand your ground! You are not defeated yet you will not fall today!" A feminine voice shouts over chaos. Then from the way we came, another cheer went up as the raiders who were clearing the south wall charge past us. Rapid gunfire rips through the air as the rear rank of the walkers is ripped to shreds. The walkers who have scattered through the parking lot are quickly speared down by the arriving reinforcements as well. We turn back to deal with our walkers instead of waiting for them we lowered our pikes and began pushing them back. We clear the path and push the gate closed as members of the Arrowhead group clear away the remaining walkers.

When the last of the walkers are killed a cheer is raised from everyone who fought. As the cheering died down we got to work on our new task. Clearing the plaza of all the walkers as the area is flooded with corpses. As we begin piling the walkers into the back of pickups and trailers they are carried off to be burned elsewhere. Arrows are collected and spent shell casings are collected. "Thankfully we reacted fast enough and were prepared enough to not lose anyone. It seems the guardians aren't a waste of resources." I hear some raiders snicker as we are clearing bodies. I ignore them as I continue with my task.

"Aiden we need to talk," Marko says as he appears behind me. "I don't think we talked enough about your mission last week." He continues as I throw a corpse into the back of a pickup.

"No, we didn't. We didn't talk at all about it." I reply. "But not out here." I finish as we begin walking to his office. He closes the door behind him as we sit at the desk. He grabs a binder and places it off to the side. He then grabs some paper and a pencil and looks at me to start.

"Okay, the mission was simple, go to the airport and check the condition of the fence and the number of walkers. We set up our first fallback and a secondary fallback and cleared them. When we arrived at the airport we drove around the perimeter and everything looked okay. Until we got back to where we started. A large group of walkers were pushing against the fence but we didn't know why. Taylor and I got out to check we brought all our gear with us and when we got close to the fence I noticed something was off. I told Taylor to stay back and I went to investigate." I started as I tried to remember everything that happened. "Oh god, I know what was odd. The bottom of three fence posts were hacked through and a section of fence was cut. We weren't alone there. When I walked close to the final cut post I hear a groaning sound as the fence collapses under the weight. They flooded out faster than I thought and I was cut off from the others. Taylor ran for the car and I ran to the secondary fallback. That's when things got weird a group of walkers came from the back streets I barely made it to the house." I continued as he wrote down what I was saying. " After that, I made it to the fallback and called for backup." I finished as he stops writing.

"Which means a small size hoard got through the fence," Marko asks as I begin to connect the dots.

"Wait we need to check the dead. I think I saw a pilot's uniform in the crowd somewhere. That means that the people who attacked us were trying to soften our defenses and knew we would hide behind the walls. We wouldn't have a way to know about the incoming horde." I mumble as the dots connect.  
"Exactly right. Whoever these people are they want us either dead or gone. I will have all the evidence we collected gathered and have ugh I forget his name. That retired police detective we have. Thank you, Aiden for this information. Now we have to go thank our rallying savors. The leader of Arrowhead herself." Marko sighs as we stand up and begin to leave.

I return home and drop my gear off in the garage. I check the time to find its almost six in the morning. "Damn the store doesn't open till eight. Well, that's life behind the wall for you. Busy one day, chaotic the next morning and dull for the rest of the day." I sigh as I face dive back into bed.


	4. Chapter 4 the gears begin to turn

Chapter 4 The Gears begin to Turn.

When I wake up again the alarm clock reads ten thirtyish. I moan as I pull myself out of bed and stretch quickly. I pull on some clothing quickly as I walk downstairs to the kitchen. Logan sits by himself writing on the grocery list. "Morning Aiden, everyone else is already gone. You want to join me in grocery shopping?" He asks as I flip the kettle on and grab a pack of instant oatmeal. "Happily just let me eat first," I reply as I wait for the kettle to boil. "Remember our first mission last week. We think someone guided them here. We are checking if any walkers are wearing pilot uniforms." I tell him as the kettle finishes boiling and turn off. I eat quickly and we grab the reusable bags for groceries. The streets are quiet with only a few people outside. I wave to two guardians biking past us on patrol. "Weird, they're not many people on the streets right now. Is something happening?" I ask Logan as we cut through an apartment project to take a shortcut to the store.

"Nope, we already watered most of the field this morning. We do have some groups out getting water from the river." He replies as we cross a bridge passing over a river. "I think most of the raiders have been called in for a briefing though. After that attack last night we have to do some crowd control in Orleans. I heard from others that we were the only group that had walkers lead to our gates." He continues as we walk next to the school field as we see a group of raiders running laps or training with weapons. "We also need to track down the group that attacked us. Marko is having the old police detective look through any evidence we found but that might take to long." I reply as we enter a short path through a forested park and end up behind the metro.

We push to slide the doors open as we walk inside. Standing guard are six guardians. Two are melee fighters armed with clubs and another had a bow. They get the joyful job of guarding the entrance while six teams of three patrol inside the store We aren't the only people in the store but it isn't busy. "Don't forget to read the instructions so you how many things to grab per person." A voice says over the speakers as he finishes talking. Logan has a shopping cart so we wander around the store finding the things we need. We also chat with the various guards some of them were part of the defense last night as well. "The shelves are looking slightly bare today. You said you were helping with inventory? What's our situation on food?" I ask Logan as I grab a bag of pasta and two jars of sauce. "It's in a weird state right now. We have food coming from farms and we have what people grow in their own yards. But we need to improve what we can grow ourselves. Focus more on foods that grow fast or in large amounts. We are lucky due to Arrowhead since they have those fields next to them. Although we do have a ton of eggs." He responds as we look at what meats are available. "Like how many chickens do we even have. The last time we counted it a like two hundred." He tells himself as I grab some venison. The hunters must have had a good haul last time for this much meat. We finish grabbing the last few items we need and head to the cashiers.

 _ **Buying food:**_ _to buy food we follow a system like food banks taking a select amount. To purchase them we don't use the money. We bring the food to the cashier and the food took is marked down. All items are given a number those are also written down to help track items taken and make sure none are missing._

"Have a good day," I tell the cashier as we leave with our bags, We walk home taking the same route and talk about the last few days. We get home and we put everything away and we get on with our days.

I decided to go see if I could get any information about that early morning meeting. I walk back to the school and as I cross the field I walk behind the group of archery training. I give some of them advice if I notice any errors. I continue past and I reach the upper field. I walk around the border since the majority if the field is now home to a cornfield. In the middle of the growing stalks, I can see a water tower. A few workers are taking the empty drums off and replacing them with full ones. I reach one of the school doors and pull it open. This hallway only has it's emergency lights on while other halls have all lights on. I wander into the den as a few raiders are chatting around the table. I notice that they are around their late twenties meaning these are some of the higher ranking raiders. "Good afternoon everyone," I tell them as they see me approach. "If possible do you know what the early morning meeting was about?" I continue asking them.

"Yeah, we might have a lead about those people that attacked us. We found some supplies in the back of the crashed cars." One of the older raiders says his deep voice catching me off guard. He looks around and in a lower voice, he continues. "They had some shirts in that has the Orleans bowling logo on the arms. We are having a team check that place out tomorrow," he says. "The team isn't decided yet but if you are interested we have an open slot in our group. Our last member is out sick." He finishes. I think about the offer for a few seconds before I decide. "That would be great if you have space," I answer as they start getting up to leave. "If you want to join I have to ask what type of fighter are you?" He asks as he gestures for to me to follow. "I am mainly a ranged fighter using a recurve bow with a fifty-pound draw weight. I also use two punch knives. Since I am a better hand to hand fighter." I reply as we walk towards the gym

"Wait you are a ranged fighter who also good at hand to hand fighting? What were you before the apocalypse?" One of the other members asks as we take a set of stairs up to the other second floor. Due to the odd design of the school, the drama, music and a smaller upper gym for wrestling are separated from the other half of floor. "I did some boxing off to the side for exercise. I started at sixteen but I haven't practiced much since this all happened." I reply as we enter the small gym. The floor has padded mats along with the lower parts of the wall. "Well let's see what you can do, shall we?" The group leader replied as he tosses a pair of boxing gloves. "You will be fighting Morgan he is the closest to your size. I am Roosevelt and our last friend here is Amber. She is our ranged fighter like you. She was working her way through police training." Roosevelt continues as we put our gloves on and enter the circle marked on the mats.

We don't fight for too long since we decided to use one round deathmatch. Morgan was a more brutal fighter as he pressed forward quickly, I had trained with an out boxer style but I made my own improvements to help avoid him. I manage to win with a slight lead. After we fought they had me show them my archery skill. It was late in the morning is almost one when we finished. We wound up back in the den talking about what life was like before the apocalypse. Morgan was twenty-seven and was working as an auto mechanic, Amber was twenty-five and was going through the police academy and Roosevelt was thirty-three and was a welder by trade working in Ottawa but comes from Manitoba. "So Aiden what is your life story?" Amber asks as Roosevelt finished talking. "Well, I was eighteen almost nineteen when this shitshow began. I worked in a deli part time and did some boxing for fun. My parents are alive but my father was a construction worker and is helping out in Apollo camp, my mother was in accounting and management and also worked as a secretary for a while. She works as a scribe so they are both in important positions. Taylor is my twin and I would do anything to keep him safe but its hard with this world." I tell them as they listen. "For about a year I was starting to pursue my lifelong career but something sidetracked it. Now I work as a raider and do construction in my spare time." I finish as they sort everything I told them. I hear someone running as their feet slapped loudly against the floor. "Aiden You are needed at the bank. Taylor and the others are being summoned as well!" a courier tells me as he catches his breath. "Let's continue another time!" I shout the others as I run for the front doors.

It takes a few minutes to reach the bank and I could see Logan and Blake were being driven in an ATV. We enter the bank and are directed into Marko's office where Taylor is sitting. "Aiden, Logan, Blake good sit or stand we found something important," he tells us as he passes a few pictures around the table. "Do you recognize anything important about those photos?" he asks as we pass it around. The photos showed a roadmap book and a few pages. "No nothing jumps out at me. These just have a picture of pages with circles and random marks on them." Taylor says as he passes them to me. I look over them for a few seconds before I notice a pattern start forming. "These aren't just random marks. These look like military symbols. Red diamonds mean hostile, green squares mean neutral etc." I tell everyone as I keep looking through.

"That's right Aiden how did you know?" Marko asks as I stop and look at the last three pictures these ones catch my attention. "I had a few friends when joined the forces and they showed me these symbols. We played a war game with them for fun. But look at these ones. This is Kingston I believe that this is fort henry. We know that a group took over. Its marked with a blue rectangle meaning friends The other is some random place slightly north-west of Toronto but its marked as an unknown headquarter. The last one is us marked with a red diamond. These guys have been strip searching the province looking for us but why us. The last time we were that far south was when we made a trade with the group at Fort Henry." I tell everyone. Marko stands up and walks to one of the bookshelves and pulls off a binder.

"Boys that will be all for today. Aiden, I hear that you are hoping to go on that mission tomorrow?" Marko tells us as we start leaving. "Yes sir, I have been bored out of my mind all week." I begin telling him

"You will be going on that mission. I will allow it since you have a good understanding of Orleans." He continues cutting me off. We leave the bank and we decide to get on with the rest of the day. I head home and open out the garage door. Due to our position on the street, we have a small armory inside mostly of spears and a few bows. This is incased we lose the schools we aren't completely weaponless. I check the sharpness or each blade and I begin to sharpen any that are dull. Afterward, I go to my room and dig out my set of armor. All raiders and guardians have a set at home that they are supposed to mostly use. The schools have all the unused armors these are meant for if we are under attack and we can't get to our homes.

 _ **Armor of the apocalypse**_ _\- our armors range from kevlar to biking gear to football chest pieces. We also have a few sets of riot armor as well._

My armor is a set of Duhan motorcycle armor. It won't stop any bullets but the armor will prevent a walker from taking a bit out my chest, armors, and neck. Our mission at the airport last week was a special case though as we didn't wear armor due to our bags. It was more of a mobility mission that a combat mission.

The rest of the day passes without much interest as I prepared for tomorrow. The most exciting this I had to do was when I had a shift walking the walls. No walkers were spotted at the moment but we don't know how far away a gaggle of them could be.

The next morning I gathered all my gear together for the scouting mission and meet at the school for the briefing. I did a quick head count and About thirty people were here which was odd. To my surprise when Marko walks in I see the head of agriculture is with him and she is holding a bag with things inside. "Good morning everyone I hope you slept well since we will be busy today," Marko says addressing the room and we all perk up. I take out a small notebook and prepare to take down any important information. Here next to me is the head of agriculture Evie Mills. She has an important task for people to do. So she will take it from here."

"As you know if you lived in Ottawa we have many farms outside the city. We have a few groups who work some of the safer areas. We suddenly lost contact with our farthest farm. We want a few groups to stealthily check out the camp and report back. Aiden you will be part of the planning team you will also be joined by Wolfgang and two other of our strategic heads."

Evie tells the rest of us as we continue the meeting. "The farm is located around seventeen kilometers away near a large dig site. The house is across from the Berton farm sign. We want a sniper group in the cowbarn across the street. After that four teams will surround it and wait to see if anything odd happens." She finishes as the meeting continues.

"Oh, one final thing not a word of this meeting and later planning is to be talked about or even written! Aiden that includes you." Marko continues. I tuck my journal into my bag and shift back to my notebook…

(Two days later)

Running low to the ground my team of four travels across the field due to the season the grass is short and green in color. I feel a few droplets of rain on my head. "God I hate April but at least it isn't January," I mutter as we get closer to the barn. We pull open the door to find it empty which is odd. These farms usually have some type of farm animals and one horse in case they need to bolt or send a message. I climb a set of stairs to reach the window with the best viewpoint. Once again I use the Remington VTR. I extend the tripod legs and Logan takes a pair of binoculars to help spot for me. We wait until the sun starts to set and the other teams move across the field. "Something isn't right. We saw no movement in the house and all the animals are gone." I tell Logan as the teams enter the house. We see them move through the windows and in a few minutes I hear Taylors radio crackle. "It's completely empty. No food on the shelves, clothing in the rooms nothing living." A voice over the radio says as they walk out the front door. That is when everything goes wrong. I hear a loud whistling sound, the left side, probably the living room suddenly explodes sending debris flying.

"Shit, Shit! What just happened?" I shout as I start searching for the source of the sound. Then whatever higher power that's out there decides to fuck up my day. I hear another whistling sound but this time the roof of the barn to our left explodes. I get slammed into the frame of the window and lose my breath. "Taylor are you okay? Taylor!" I shout waiting to hear my brother's voice. "I'm okay Aiden but I can't move. I was walking up the loft stairs. Now I am under them." he says with pain in his voice.

"We are okay too you know. Don't worry about us unimportant people." I hear Blake groan as he crawls out from under a bale of hay. "Aiden that blast it came from the east. Look at the hole in the roof." Taylor says as he points to said hole. The blast has collapsed the southeast portion of the roof. "It explains the damage to the house the blast came from the back of the house. It means that the target it somewhere in the field south-southeast of the house. They must have seen the glint from my scope" I finish for Taylor as we hear a third whistling sound this one falls short of the barn. The barn creaks and grounds from the second blast and I hear Logan.

"We need to get out of here now! The first blast took out four, five, five and a half roof thrusts another good hit and this barn collapses onto us." Logan shouts as we start moving. That's when I notice my problem. The blast took out the only stairs on this side of the barn. The only things separating me from a fifteen-foot drop. "Logan, Blake get Taylor and leave now I think I know where they are firing from. " I order them as they start to protest but decide against it leaving the barn carrying Taylor. They make it out of the barn when the next whistle starts. This time hitting the west side of the barn. Causing it to collapse with me in it.


	5. Chapter 5 The Long Road Home

Chapter 5 The Long Road Home.

"Man I been through basic training when I was in the armed forces. But why the hell is carrying this stupid prisoner so damn hard." I gasp as I continue jogging. It's only been minutes since I started my escape from those monsters. Thankfully they must not have caught on yet but I can't stop yet. I turn down a street when I see Michael and a few others with some random truck they hijacked. "Hurry your ass up Clayton! Before you get us killed." He whisper shouts to me as I pass the raider to one of the guys and using my knife I cut the zip ties completely off leaving them on the ground. I pull myself into the truck and we slowly begin driving off taking as many side streets as we can until we make it out of Orleans.

"So how did things go on your end?" I ask Michael as the silence from everyone is deafening.

"It went to hell in seconds. They saw us coming and when we stopped at the plaza and started firing. They scattered fast and returned fire even faster. They turned the side of the truck into a goddamn pin cushion. Then to make matters worse some large guy with a smg burst out from the bank and made it impossible to fire back. We needed to bail so we ran. We lost one guy he had a bullet rip through his knee. Walkers got him." Michael starts but as he quiets down he turns to face me. "What about you how did you attack go?" He asks as I begin to recount what happened. We attacked them through a break in the houses leading to a park. They had a soccer game playing so we went unseen and unheard. We opened fire and they panicked. Without any guards around we killed many of them. That was a mistake because shortly after we were going to leave they flooded the area using anything as cover. Attacking through windows but we still had the advantage of a choke point so we took down twenty plus raiders. After more than thirty minutes passed things went to hell. They had there men sneak around setting up ambushes and sniping us from the back. They took out the two machine gunners first before the third pinned them and they retreated." I tell them the events as they look at me in shock.

"This was a mistake. We didn't scare or intimidate them at all. We kicked a hornet's nest and every hornet in Orleans came for revenge." Michael says as he buries his head in his hands. "At least we got the raider in the trunk as a hostage and we can interrogate him later at camp." He continues as we keep driving. After a few hours the sun begins to set and we are slowly driving past a row of abandoned cars. "Even if we bring the raider back if it isn't enough then we could be executed or banished though. We lost way to many people and weapons. We should pull off and find a place to sleep. It's getting to dark and headlights draw attention." I tell the others as we pass a small town. If I recall correctly the place we stayed on the way is a few kilometers ahead. As I looked out the front windshield I see a sign for Spring-wood cottages. "There, Let's make stay there again and continue in the morning…." I stop mid sentence as I see a pair of headlights flashing behind us.

"Gods did they follow us?" Tyler our drivers nearly shouts as panic fills out chests. We pull onto the road for the cottages driving faster to give us distance. We skid around a curve in the road and once it straightens up we pull to a stop. Michael passes me one of the three assault rifles we have left. Releasing the magazine I count to see I have half a clip. We open the doors and aim down the road waiting for the other car.

Barreling around the corner like us it skids to a stop about fifteen feet from us. Emerging from the roof and each door are assault rifles. "Clayton is that you? I thought all of you have been wiped out." A voice calls out. The other team that attacked the far end of the community. "We thought you didn't make it. We been looking for you on the radio channels." I reply as we lower our weapons. "You know what let save this till we get to the cabins. " I continue before they have a chance to reply. The driver nods and we continue to the cabins. When we arrive we lock the prisoner in the second cabin in the small guest room. It contains a small bed, desk with a TV and a few other small pieces of furniture. I look out the small window only to see my own reflection. "Hey kid, Just to let you know. Your group brought this upon yourself. I don't know why you went all out of your way to attack us but you will pay." I tell the teen as I close the door. I gester to the guard telling him to watch the kid. I leave and walk to the next cabin before I enter I look at the full moon above illuminating the small open area around us. Our trucks sit parked behind each other. I push the door open to the others all taking stock of our gear. "Hey Clayton so we tallied the items we lost and well. The LC is going to be pissed. We lost three medium and two light machine guns as well as any weapons on those who didn't make it the next problem is we probably just pissed those guys off more. Do you have any idea how it feels to have you vehicle pelted by arrows. Very precise arrows. I don't think anyone that was attacking us missed the truck. Finally they seem to have military training or similar from the look of some of their gear." Micheal says as he looks at a list.

"So we fucked up is what you are saying?" I reply as the others look at me.

"Oh we really fucked this up. A group of civilians with very brief military training against a group of civilians with heavy armaments and we inflicted light casualties. We just pulled a pearl harbor." Micheal replies as we all stand and get ready to sleep. "Well let's try and stick to the rest of the plan restock in Kingston and keep going to base." I say as I take the guest room.

In the morning I hear shouting as I wake up. Rolling out of the bed I stumble to the door without a shirt to see everyone running for the exit. What is going on I think as I reach the door, as I exit the cabin I see the lot but no walkers. The truck is sitting by itself with a pile of our stuff behind it. Weird I think as I look around for the problem. "What's wrong? The truck is fine did some find a group of walkers near by?" I quietly say out loud as people are moving for the other cabin.

"No Clayton you idiot! The other truck is fucking gone along with the raider!" someone shouts as it finally dawned on me. The prisoner escaped somehow. I run for the cabin where inside the man guarding the door was being released from a hogtie. Once his mouth is freed he starts shouting. "That little bitch he tricked me. He said he needed to go to the washroom so i opened the door to escort him. Once I got pass the door he knocked me out somehow and must have stolen our truck."

"You idiot! Why would you even think of opening the door. There is a small bathroom with no windows hell it doesn't even have a mirror to make a shiv. We just lost our only source of information about those guys," I shouted as we just stand there defeated. "Pack our things and lets go we need to make the most out of what we have left." We pile into the last truck crammed like sardines with strapped to the roof or under our feet. It takes about an hour and a half to reach Kingston. We pull into the parking lot of fort Henry and make our way inside to talk with some people. We reach the shops at the front of the fort and quickly trade for a bit of fuel before we hurry and carry on.

Once we get back on the road we leave Kingston and look at our map. Since cities and towns are dangerous we have to take dirt roads or pass the edges of towns for safety. It takes almost ten hours of driving to make it back to our base. As we pull up the gate the sun is starting to set and the soldiers on guard aim weapons at us. "And to no one's surprise waiting to personally greet us back is the LC. Well it's been great working with you all." I tell the others as I roll the window down and the lieutenant-colonel himself he smiled and calmly asks. "So did you enjoy the capital?"

I fall onto the bed as my captor drops me. He begins talking about how we deserved what they did and how we attacked them. That's impossible. I think as I try to make sense of what we are saying. We haven't attacked any bandits or other groups since winter but they were almost wiped out and had only shotguns. He leaves the room as I look at my surroundings. "Tristan think, First I need to look at my options. I have a window, most likely a bathroom behind the closed door and the way I came in. The dressers and drawers are most likely empty and I have a bed." I whisper to myself as I pull myself to my feet. I try to walk around the bed but my legs give out on me. I grab the bedpost a large metal ball on a wooden handle. I feel pins and needles up my legs and they are asleep from my position in the trunk. I pull myself to my feet as the feeling passes. I check the window only to find that it doesn't open and it's a single pane of glass.

I sit back on the bed and think of what I can do. I decide to walk the room again and as I pass the bedpost I grab and swing around the corner only to fall again. I look at the post and I see that the ball is screwed on. I quickly unscrew it until I am holding a small ball roughly the side of two cereal bowls. It has a decent weight to it so I move to part two of my plan. "I can try to draw him into the room but how can I strike him. The moment he sees me he'll know what I'm trying. I guess I need him to pass out." I whisper as I look out the window and I see the moon glowing through the clouds.

A few hours later I wake up from a power nap and slowly move to the door. Pressing my ear to the crack at the frame I hear a faint snoring sound. "Perfect." I whisper as I knock on the door and in a pleading voice, "I need to use the restroom but I don't have one in here. Please, please can I use it. I swear I'll behave myself." I wait as I here the guard start moving.

"Give me a moment and stand back facing the wall opposing the door." He says groggily. Instead of facing the wall I move behind the door and wait as he opens it. He takes a few steps in and I push the door closed while slamming the ball into the back of his head. He drops like a bag of potatoes. "Shit, I hope I didn't kill him." I mutter as I search the next room. I find the rope I was earlier tied with and hogtie said guard. I hear the jingle of keys in his pocket and find a set of keys and a wallet.

"Who lets the drive guard the prisoner?" I question nobody as I leave finding the car dumping almost all their gear and driving off. " Please let me have the gas for this trip" I pray as I crawl down the moonlit road.

Author's note

Sorry for the long gap I been working and doing college applications so I put this story on the back burner for a while but i will start chipping away at new chapters. So again thanks for your patience and lets see where this story goes.


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